The “Reasonably Bright Girls”: Accessing Agency in the Technical Communication Workplace through Interactional Power

ABSTRACT

Women continue to face difficulties in the technical and professional communication (TPC) workplace for a myriad of reasons. However, they are not powerless, and interviews with 39 female practitioners of TPC reveal that they use interactional power to maneuver within and around the system of the traditional workplace to solve problems of devaluation, exclusion, harassment, and siloing. A key aspect of being able to navigate power through interaction is becoming aware of the context in which power struggles take place and then using that knowledge to design new participation. Women who claim agency in the workplace understand that power is not possessed, but that they can access resources to participate in power shifts and dynamics.

KEYWORDS:

• Feminist theory
• gender research
• workplace studies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emily January Petersen

Emily January Petersen is an assistant professor of technical and professional communication at Weber State University. Her research focuses on professional identities from a feminist perspective, examining how women act as technical communicators in various contexts.